Systems, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,165, have been devised for applying decorative imprints to articles formed from polyethylene and the like by the silk-screen method. The coating material or paint used is thermally responsive and is heated prior to its being poured into a stencil frame from where it is forced through an opening or openings in a paint-impervious layer on the screen by means of a squeegee or the like. For the successful operation of the process, it is necessary to pass an electrical current through the metallic mesh forming the screen so as to heat the same and prevent premature hardening of the coating material. This gives rise to a problem in that the heated screen tends to stick to the polyethylene article, with the result that when the screen is pulled away from the article to be printed on, a somewhat less than satisfactory deposition of the printed material results. In particular, the coating material or paint appears to adhere to the wire mesh forming the screen as it solidifies in contact with the polyethylene article instead of passing cleanly through the screen with the result that the printed pattern does not have an even coating of paint thereon.